Are the George Floyd Riots Worth It?

On May 26th 2020, George Floyd died while being detained by the Minneapolis Police. Since then protests have spread throughout American cities, continuing on for more than 5 months to date, often building up into destructive riots. Defenders of these actions point to the supposed effectiveness of rioting in grabbing attention of the elites and the political circles to address justice-related and racial issues otherwise swept aside. At the same time, a discussion should also be held about the various kinds of costs involved in widespread riots.

The direct monetary cost is difficult to calculate for several reasons. The riots in many places are still ongoing; the total value of insurance claims tied to them is only going to be available perhaps some time next year; even if we knew that number now, not all property and businesses are fully insured - and in a situation of lawlessness, when the police does not help enforce property rights and damages claims, a large part of the real monetary costs could pass under the radar. Nevertheless, there are some indicators which can provide a reasonable estimate. First, the cost in property damage in Minneapolis-St.Paul, where the protest first ignited, is reported by StarTribune at north of $500 million, with more than 400 businesses being damaged or destroyed.

These figures alone would make these riots the second worst incident of property damages, behind the Los Angeles riots of 1992 at $1.4 billion (when adjusted for inflation). However, the riots did not end in Minneapolis. The US National Guard has been mobilized in 33 states plus Washington D.C., with almost 84 thousand members on duty on May 29th, according to the NG website.

One of the cities suffering from the most prominent riots has been Portland, Oregon, in which the Police Bureau reports the costs of $23 million in damages and lost business.

At the national level, the Insurance Information Institute estimates property damage from civil disorder to be at $1-2 billion. If the upper bound of this estimate is approached, this would make the George Floyd riots the most monetarily expensive instance of civil unrest in US history.

Beyond the monetary cost, the human cost of the riots can be seen from the injury and deaths suffered throughout. Forbes reported 19 deaths following the first two weeks of unrest. Part of the Black Lives Matter movement response to the death of George Floyd included the creation of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, which boasts the record of 6 shootings and 2 deaths over less than a month in an area of 8 blocks and a park. Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best commented on the Zone: “There are groups of individuals engaging in shootings, a rape, assault, burglary, arson and property destruction,”.

These examples of human cost are consistent with the steep rise of crime reported by police departments in cities hit with riots. LAPD HQ reported that in the first week after George Floyd’s death homicides increased by 250% and the number of shooting injuries went up by 56% compared with the previous week. Chicago reported its most violent weekend of 2020 following the death of George Floyd as well with 85 people shot, 24 of which died

Responding to the riots across many cities, the Department of Justice and the NYPD reported more than 700 police officers having suffered miscellaneous injuries. The Department of Homeland Security reported 113 eye injuries in Portland alone from lasers used by the rioters, with 3 individuals permanently blinded.

There are further, less tangible cultural costs associated with the riots. On Wikipedia, readers can find a complete list of monuments and statues that were either removed by city and state government orders, or directly torn down by violent protesters. While most of the monuments listed are confederate in origin, displaying figures such as General Robert E. Lee, some of the more controversial removals include a statue of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt - all torn down in Portland amid riots.

With all the negative aspects of these long-standing riots mounting up, it is time to weigh their supposed benefits against these costs. Such an enormous amount of violence and destruction being caused casts serious doubt on the further justifiability of any further rioting and civil unrest without many consequences for the perpetrators.